The person in the picture was none other than the old lady who was possessed by the 'Yin' soul summoned by Cheng Yan the night before, and who had attached to Huang Xin.
Oh my goodness!
My heart trembled, and I told Huang Xin, "You said it's bad luck. Hey, leaving that aside, you have to go and light incense for the owner of that memorial."
Huang Xin and Cheng Yan were particular about cleanliness, or perhaps the strange occurrences of the past few days had scared them, because they refused to go and light incense no matter what.
In desperation, I had to lean in and tell Huang Xin about the incident with the old lady possessing her the previous day.
Huang Xin was a sensible person. After listening to me, even if she was unwilling, she followed me to the area around the memorial.
Possessed by the 'Yin' soul yesterday, encountering the memorial today, lighting incense is just a form of greeting.
Thankfully, there were many people inside the memorial hall. No one paid attention to us when we went inside.
I handed a "two hundred yuan" white envelope to Huang Xin for lighting the incense.
She held three sticks of incense and walked to the front of the memorial, kneeling down.
I was still thinking about why Huang Xin was so devout, but when I saw the incense she was holding, I realized something was wrong.
Normally, when you burn three sticks of incense, they are all of the same length, but two of Huang Xin's incense sticks were short, and one was long.
People are afraid of three shorts and two longs, while incense is afraid of two shorts and one long.
Looking at the "incense arrangement," there seemed to be a problem.
I quickly went to Huang Xin's side, and at that moment, she had just finished kowtowing.
I saw tears in her eyes.
Seeing how reluctant she had been at the beginning, it was clear she didn't know this deceased old lady. But now, with tears in her eyes, I guessed there was only one possibility – the old lady had possessed Huang Xin again, and her death was suspicious!
You see, in our country, red and white events, weddings are happy events, and funerals are also happy events. A normal death is definitely considered happy, after all, having lived for so many years, one finally no longer has to bear the various pains of life.
But this old lady, shedding tears, was obviously a sad case.
Her death was unjust.
I gently held Huang Xin's hand, leaned in close to her ear, and said in a very soft voice: Old lady, you have a grievance, I know, but I have to go out now. When I'm done, I will find out the truth behind your death.
After hearing what I said, Huang Xin finally stopped crying. She looked at me puzzled: Why are you holding my hand?
I smiled and didn't say anything, just took her away from the memorial.
As for what I promised the old lady, I will definitely do it.
When I went to find the "Northeastern Fox King" and came back, I would help the old lady find out the cause of her death. This is karma, which is something that even someone as skilled as I am with 'Yin' people can't afford to provoke.
If you encounter karma and don't address it, there will be consequences.
On the way, Huang Xin asked about the memorial we had just visited, and I didn't say much, just mumbled a few words, obscuring the matter.
Only after getting on the train did Cheng Yan's mood begin to improve, and she lay her legs on the railing next to me.
Their model legs were really long and white, making my mouth water.
But I didn't have the mind to look, as I still had work to do.
I took out a notebook from my bag.
The cover of the notebook was made of old sheepskin, clearly a very old item.
As I opened the notebook, I found it filled with names and contact information.
Cheng Yan looked a bit surprised and asked me why I didn't store these contacts on my phone.
I patted her head and said she wouldn't understand, as this was the rule for contacting Yin people.
The rules had been set hundreds of years ago and couldn't be easily changed.
Cheng Yan became interested and sat next to me, asking me to tell her about the rules for contacting Yin people.
At this point, Huang Xin also stopped reading her "Brief History of Time" and lifted her face, showing interest in what I had to say.
I closed the notebook and asked them: Do you know about Nurhaci?
Cheng Yan nodded and said she knew, mentioning that she had read about Nurhaci in the book "Da Yuer" and how he was the founding emperor of the Qing Dynasty.
I nodded with a smile, noting that it's true that if one lacks knowledge, they should at least have common sense, and if common sense is lacking, they should watch more TV.
Without watching TV, these two girls probably wouldn't even know who Nurhaci was.
I then asked them if they knew why the Manchu Eight Banners army had a small population but still managed to invade the Central Plains and vie for dominance.
I expected the two girls wouldn't know, but to my surprise, Huang Xin confidently replied: First, the combat strength of the Later Jin Eight Banners army was very strong. Long ago, the Emperor of the Liao Kingdom, Yelü Taibao, said that the Jin people, no matter how few, cannot be defeated. The Later Jin warriors were of the same origin as the Jin people and had extraordinarily strong combat capabilities. Second, at the time, the Ming Dynasty's government was weak and had very low combat strength. Third, officials of the Ming Dynasty colluded internally and externally, and Wu Sangui let the Qing soldiers enter the pass in a fit of anger, for Chen Yuanyuan. This girl is quite knowledgeable, understanding the historical context so well; she even knew that the Qing Dynasty was referred to as "Later Jin" at that time.
Cheng Yan also praised Huang Xin for her knowledge.
I cleared my throat and acknowledged their insights.
However... there's still a very important point.
When Nurhaci led his troops into the pass, he gathered countless Yin people from the Northeast and activated the nine dragon veins outside the pass.
The dragon energy was strong, and the people's hopes were pinned on him. Since then, Nurhaci led his troops south and was invincible in war!
"What about these nine dragon veins?" Cheng Yan asked, counting on her fingers.
I explained that the main point of what I was saying wasn't about the significance of the nine dragon veins for Nurhaci's southern expedition, but rather, that our lineage of contacting Yin people originated at that time.
At that time, Nurhaci established an "Yin God" organization within the Jurchen tribe to connect with countless Yin people from the Northeast.
The establishment of the "Yin God" was aimed at connecting with the numerous Yin people at the time.
This was the most glorious period of recruiting Yin people.
My ancestors were "Yin God" priests at the time, and the entire Northeast Yin people were under his command.
Until the Kangxi period, when Emperor Kangxi heavily favored Buddhism, neglecting the Northeast Yin people and the "Yin God".
By then, my ancestor realized that the influence of the "Yin God" was waning, and the Qing Dynasty no longer needed the "Yin God." Therefore, he proactively retired to his hometown.
Since then, the recruitment of Yin people became a folk organization, with no connection to the court.
"Oh, your ancestors were part of the court?" Cheng Yan looked at me with a newfound respect.
I waved it off, signaling Cheng Yan to keep it low-key, and then explained that those Yin people were either descendants or followers of my ancestors' subordinates. Hence, they were very respectful towards me, willingly giving me their contact information. As long as I had some "purification" work to do, I could find them.
To take care of my business, the Yin people also established a rule that they would only handle Yin matters from the surrounding areas as long as it was requested by my acquaintances. For other "Yin matters" in different places, they had to go through my contacts for them to handle it.
"Oh, they're really loyal?"
"Of course, we Northeasterners live by the principle of loyalty," I smiled and said.
To be honest, over the years as my reputation grew, some "Yin people" from the South also asked me to do jobs for them.
Sometimes I would agree, but I always prioritized what the Northeastern Yin people could handle. For matters they couldn't handle, I would find people in the South to help.
So, at the moment, not just Northeasterners, but almost all Yin people nationwide, from East to West and North to South, I could contact.
But when it comes down to it, I've been quite respectful in handling things according to the rules.
I told Cheng Yan: If any of the contacts in my notebook don't want to work for me anymore, they can tell me, and I will unconditionally remove their names. This was a rule set when the "Yin God" retired, stating that Yin people were not our subordinates but our brothers.
"No wonder you charge less money than the Yin people," Huang Xin finally understood why I charged the Yin people 50,000 while only asking for 20,000, as there were rules to follow.
I sighed: Dealing with Yin people involves being tactful. I should avoid offending my employers and my Yin brothers.
Huang Xin said it's the right way to do things and praised me for actually being a good person. She mentioned how both she and Cheng Yan had fainted yesterday, and I didn't take advantage of them. When they woke up in the morning, they found me lying on the floor, and it took them a lot of effort to move me onto the couch.
Alright, they didn't mention anything about moving me to a comfortable bed.
While Cheng Yan was lost in thought, she suddenly asked, "Now that reform and opening up have taken place, everyone's thoughts aren't that straightforward anymore. There's modern economy now, and they can completely go out and find their own way. Why do they have to depend on you?"
I slapped my thigh, saying she asked a good question. Why wouldn't the Yin brothers seek their own livelihood instead of relying on me? Why would they readily accept a share of the earnings?
I told Cheng Yan that it's because our Yin people clan has a unique set of skills throughout the nation!
Cheng Yan quickly asked me what this particular ability was, but I remained tight-lipped.
Both Huang Xin and Cheng Yan helped me to massage it out, and also handed me cigarettes and water, hoping to find out what special ability I had.
Hey hey!
I just wouldn't speak.
Even when we got off the train, I didn't say anything.
Both ‘women’ got mad at me about this and ignored me all the way.
We rented a taxi and went to the outskirts of the north.
When we reached the city's edge, the driver said he wouldn't go any further. He said it's not safe to travel this road at night and advised the three of us not to go.
I paid the taxi fare and thanked the driver, then took the two 'women' to the large grassland.
Qiqihar comes from the Daur language, meaning "natural pasture," so in this suburban area, there are many grasslands and woodland areas.
The three of us are walking in a forested area right now.
We followed the national road and kept going straight, with straight poplar trees on both sides.
Huang Xin took a deep breath and said the air here is really fresh, and the PM25 value is probably very low.
Cheng Yan also said that the scenery here at midnight is especially beautiful, and walking around here makes her feel a lot better.
I just smiled and didn't say anything.
These two girls are too naive and don't understand how sinister the Three Northeastern Provinces, situated between white clouds and black water, really are!